Columbus man who claimed he exchanged shots in self-defense sentenced to prison for murder

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·3 min read
3
Q'Juantez Poole, 23, of Columbus' Northwest Side, center, stood with his defense attorney, Joseph R. Landusky II on Thursday when Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft sentenced Poole to life in prison with eligibility for parole after more than 24 years in fatal 2020 shooting of 26-year-old Donte Wiley and wounding a woman with Wiley.

Q'Juantez Poole maintained he exchanged gunfire in 2020 to protect his older brother and himself. But Franklin County prosecutors said the brothers drove up without provocation and opened fire on a car parked outside a Northeast Side apartment complex, killing an innocent man — 26-year-old Dontey Wiley.

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court jury on Feb. 2 rejected Poole's argument and found the 23-year-old guilty of five felony counts, including murder, attempted murder and felonious assault.

On Thursday, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft sentenced Poole to life in prison with eligibility for parole after at least 27 years. Poole has almost 2½ years of jail time credit, meaning he could be eligible for parole in about 24½ years.

Poole's defense attorney, Joseph Landusky II, who argued at trial that Wiley began shooting first, told The Dispatch after the sentencing hearing Thursday that he will be appealing the jury verdict.

Past reporting: Jury finds Columbus man who claimed self-defense guilty of murder in 2020 shooting

The shootout

Late on Oct. 6, 2020, Wiley and Kari Anderson-Latham, then 23, sat in a parked car at an apartment complex in the 5800 block of Arborwood Drive where 27-year-old Quintez Poole lived. Q'Juantez Poole testified at his trial that his older brother called him, concerned that the people in the car were there to hurt him.

Security video captured some of what happened next at approximately 12:30 on Oct. 7, 2020, but not everything.

The video showed Q'Juantez Poole driving up, Quintez Poole getting inside Q'Juantez Poole's car, and them driving away.

After a few minutes, the Poole brothers drive back to Wiley's car and gunfire is exchanged between the brothers and Wiley for about six seconds.

Wiley was mortally wounded and later died. Anderson-Latham was grazed by a bullet. Quintez Poole suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his groin area, which he survived.

More on claiming self-defense in Ohio: How Ohio laws make it easier to claim self-defense in cases like Sinzae Reed's death

Quintez Poole is facing trial on the same murder and other charges and is scheduled to appear in court next on April 25. A previous jury trial of Poole in August 2022 ended in a mistrial before closing arguments.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Vaccaro said during the hearing Thursday that Q'Juantez Poole had no regard for the families living in the apartment complex when he and his brother "obliterated" Wiley's car with bullets.

Vaccaro said Anderson-Latham would have testified at both murder trials, but she died in a car crash in November 2021.

The night of the shootout, Vacarro said, Anderson-Latham called 911 dispatcher and reported that "we were just sitting there and they started shooting at us."

Q'Juantez Poole (center), 23, of Columbus' Northwest Side, appeared in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 2 with his attorney Joseph R. Landusky II (right) to face trial for murder and attempted murder in the 2020 death of 26-year-old Dontey Wiley and the wounding of a woman who was present.
Q'Juantez Poole (center), 23, of Columbus' Northwest Side, appeared in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 2 with his attorney Joseph R. Landusky II (right) to face trial for murder and attempted murder in the 2020 death of 26-year-old Dontey Wiley and the wounding of a woman who was present.

'I'm sorry for the situation that happened'

Landusky said at Thursday's sentencing hearing that Q'Juantez Poole was a model kid with no criminal history and who had an associate degree. And from the beginning, Landusky said, he's been under instruction to not besmirch his older brother's name.

During the hearing, Poole turned to Wiley's family in the courtroom gallery and apologized.

"I do pray for your family day in and day out," Poole said. "I'm sorry for the situation that happened. If I could change anything I would. I'd maybe use better judgment ... Everything I did was just a reaction to what was going on around me."

Later in the hearing, Judge Cocroft chastised Poole for saying he 'maybe' could have used better judgment.

"You think?" Cocroft said. "Absolutely, you could have used better judgment."

Kaiana Edwards, one of Wiley's sisters, said at Thursday's sentencing that her brother was a genuine and loving person.

"Our family is torn apart," she said. "We’ll never heal over this."

More court news for subscribers: Then-15-year-old who fatally shot another 15-year-old gets probation. How many youths kill?

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man gets at least 24 years to life in fatal 2020 shooting